


In a world of what-ifs, could this be a maybe

by Rehearsal_Dweller



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: 1940s AU, Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, M/M, Not Demigods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-18
Updated: 2013-10-18
Packaged: 2017-12-29 19:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1009280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehearsal_Dweller/pseuds/Rehearsal_Dweller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In 1939, Maria di Angelo fled Italy with her children.<br/>In 1943, Nico and Bianca met Them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In a world of what-ifs, could this be a maybe

The year was 1939. Nico was seven, Bianca nine. Mama had been watching the beginnings of war brewing, and decided that it would be best to leave Europe.

Nico didn’t really get it, but he went along without complaining because he’d never crossed an ocean before. It was pretty cool.

The summer after Nico turned eleven, the family spent time in a small beach town in Virginia.

That was the year that Nico and Bianca met  _them_.

They were mostly Bianca’s age or a little older, but even though Nico was younger he was included.

The oldest was Thalia, and she took Bianca under her wing the day they met.

Then was Grover, who was a little weird and really into plants but otherwise pretty cool.

Annabeth was a year older than Bianca and probably the smartest person that Nico had ever met.

And Percy was Nico’s favourite. He was cool and almost always talked to Nico like an equal instead of like a little kid (the exceptions, Nico realised in retrospect, were usually times when Nico was being particularly annoying and inquisitive, and for that Nico could forgive Percy). Nico was also pretty sure that Annabeth fancied Percy, but Percy was too oblivious to notice yet ( _that_  didn’t bother Nico at all).

They’d all known each other for a few years before they met Nico and Bianca, but they seemed to have decided that the di Angelos would be joining their little group whether they wanted to or not.

Two summers later, Percy finally wised up and asked Annabeth on a date.

Nico didn’t talk to him for a week afterward. Not that he would ever in his entire life admit that the two things were related.

“Hey, Nico!” Percy called on Saturday afternoon.

Nico glanced around, trying to find a quick escape route, but there was nowhere for him to run. So he turned to face Percy. “Hi, Perce.”

“Where’ve you been? Nobody’s seen you in a week!” said Percy.

“Grounded,” Nico lied, hoping desperately that whatever Bianca had told Thalia wouldn’t contradict him.

“Oh,” Percy replied, “what for?”

Nico shrugged. “Family stuff.”

“Ungrounded now, though?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Great! We’re planning to go out to the beach, y’wanna come?”

“I’ll – I’ll catch you up.”

The next summer, they met Thalia’s little brother and his friends. Jason was a year younger than Bianca, and so were Leo and Piper and Reyna and Frank.

Hazel came that summer, too. Hazel was older than Percy by almost two years, younger than Thalia by one. Something about her was familiar to Nico, but he couldn’t place what.

Annabeth and Percy were still together.

Nico took to making excuses to avoid spending time with the group, spending more and more time on his own as time went on. He made no effort to get close to the new people (Hazel was the exception, because he couldn’t resist a mystery).

The one day he  _did_  end up going on a beach trip with the rest, it really didn’t end well for him.

Percy and Annabeth were being subtly coupley, and Nico was trying  _really_ hard to just ignore it, but it clearly wasn’t working out very well.

“- I said  _are you okay_?” Jason repeated, waving his hand in front of Nico’s face.

Nico shook his head a little. “Uh, yeah, I’m fine. Actually, you know what? I’m going to go inside, I’m getting a headache.”

He stood up and walked away, but Jason jumped up and followed him. “You’ve been staring angrily over Percy’s shoulder for half an hour now. Is something wrong?”

“Look, Jason, you don’t know me very well yet, so I’m going to be polite about this. Leave. Me. Alone. My affairs are none of your business, whether I  _am_  or  _am not_  okay is none of your business,” Nico said angrily. He sped up, trying to escape.

“There’s a rumour going around that you’ve been carrying a torch for Annabeth since you were ten,” Jason told him.

Nico stopped and turned to face Jason. “Firstly, I didn’t even  _meet_  her until I was eleven. Secondly, even if that was  _true_ , why would I tell  _you_? You’ll just go back and blab to Piper, and Piper will tell Annie and Hazel and Thalia, because girls  _talk_  and then everyone might as well know.”

“Look, Nico, I wouldn’t tell. Your secret’s safe with me. If it’s true, I mean. Is it? It would make the glaring make sense.”

All the fight left Nico at once. He sighed, staring at something in the sand near Jason’s feet. “It’s not. But I’d much rather have people keep believing that, so – so don’t go dispelling the rumour.”

“Oh. … _Oh_ ,” Jason said, eyes widening. “I’ll, uh, I’ll leave you to your running off, then. I won’t tell the others.”

Nico almost let himself forget about the incident.

At Percy and Annabeth’s wedding in ‘51, Thalia cornered Nico. He was sitting off to the side of the room, drinking and trying not to look too angry.

“My mother’s been putting the heat on for me to get married,” she informed him as she slid into the seat next to his.

“Why tell me?” Nico asked. “You’re not even dating anyone.”

“I  _know_  that,” replied Thalia, rolling her eyes. “And you know what else I know? You’re not jealous of Percy Jackson.”

It took Nico a moment to process her statement’s full meaning, but once he had, his eyes widened. “Keep your voice down!”

Thalia nodded. “Of course,” she said. “Look, Nico, I’ve got a proposition for you.”

And that was the secret story behind how Nico and Thalia got together. They’d go on dates in public places, show off how “in love” they were, and then at the end of the night Thalia would ruffle Nico’s hair and call him Bianca’s little brother, and they’d part ways knowing that they were both ridiculously lucky to have found somebody whose problem matched up so neatly with their own.

They were married when Nico was 22 and Thalia was 27. Jason kept shooting Nico suspicious looks all through the ceremony and reception, but didn’t actually approach him about anything.

When the 60s rolled around, Percy and Annabeth had two beautiful, perfect children (Marlene and Bobby), Jason had married Piper, Leo had left the country to be with a girl named Callie that he’d met on vacation in ‘55, Grover had settled down with a girl named Juniper who loved plants as much as he did, and Hazel had followed Frank back to Canada.

Thalia and Bianca jumped into the feminist movement the moment they heard about it.

Nico spent many an afternoon (when he wasn’t working in the funeral home he owned with Bianca) playing with Marly and Bobby.

“You know, you’re surprisingly good with kids,” Percy observed one day.

Nico shrugged. “People are always surprised. Just because I’m good at dealing with dead people, logically I can’t handle living ones.”

“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that,” said Percy apologetically. “Just… I mean… are you and Thalia planning to…?”

Nico chuckled. “Not any time soon, no. And by that I mean never.”

“Why?”

“Perce, I –,” Nico began, but he caught himself. “It’s just not what we want to do. Raising kids would interfere with Thalia’s whole save-the-world plan, you know how she is.” He stood up. “I should go.”

“Wh- why? You’ve only been here half an hour!” Percy protested. The kids started to whine as well, because they rather liked playing with Nico.

“You just reminded me that it’s my turn to cook. If I don’t make it home on time then Lia will accuse me of perpetuating the patriarchy and all that,” Nico lied easily. “And I’d rather that your  _kids_ be mad at me than my wife. I’m sure you understand.” And with that, he left the room almost at a run.

That night over dinner (which Nico did not, in fact, make, as it was Thalia’s turn), he confided in his longtime friend.

“I almost told him, Lia. I almost ruined everything.”

Thalia reached across the table and set her hand on Nico’s. “But you didn’t. And someday, if you do? It won’t change a thing. We’ll make it there, I swear.”

**Author's Note:**

> In a world without gods, this could be, maybe.


End file.
